Abstract:
The legislative outcome of Mabo is yet to affect people’s lives. If all the provisions enacted in the native title legislation are put into effect, and resourced as promised by the politicians, this new law may be the biggest step towards reconciliation in over two hundred years. This is for two reasons. First, the process of skilfully negotiating the content of the act effectively broadened the scope of the law beyond its original intent, and created a precedent for how future decisions are to be negotiated. Second, the result addresses fundamental causes of Aboriginal dispossession, not just symptoms.
Details / PDF:
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